How iPhone 4 Will Affect foursquare and Location-Based Apps
By: Hillel Fuld
Before I begin, I would just like to say that when deciding on the topic of this post, I was faced with too many options. With the new iPhone 4 shipping, I could also play it safe and talk about that. There was always the 3 million iPads sold in 80 days story, or I could have talked about the new demo of Windows phone 7. There were the new features of Google Maps for Android and there was the Meego announcement by Nokia.
As you see I had a lot of choices, so I did what any man would do in that situation, and I turned to Twitter with this tweet. I asked people for suggestions on interesting topics for a post and got tens of answers. However, only one answer I got from Daniel van Moll caught my eye and presented an interesting angle.
Daniel wrote this tweet, which definitely got me thinking. It got me thinking about when I first joined foursquare and how disappointed and confused I was about the service that everyone was saying was the next big thing. I have been using it now for a nice amount of time, and while I realize the potential for foursquare and other location-based services, I do feel they are not there yet.
The main thing that bothered me about foursquare was the need to launch the app and actively check-in at every venue. Maybe it is just me, but the way I see these services reaching their potential is through automatic updates of your current location.
Now, at the risk of sounding like a complete fanboy (I will explain why later), with the launch of the new iOS4 and its multitasking capabilities, these location updates can become much more automated and convenient.
Now, why do I say this runs the risk of acquiring a “fanboy” badge (pun intended)? Well because Apple really just added a feature that was available on Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, and other platforms for years. Yes, that is true, but there are two primary differences. Without getting into this debate, I will say that as opposed to Android and others, Apple seems to have perfected the art of multitasking. In addition, when talking about the mobile industry, Apple’s newfound fame and fortune (in the form of market share, popularity, and growth) cannot be ignored. So, when Apple adds multitasking, it can and should not be compared to what has been available on BlackBerry phones in the past.
Moving along, with this new functionality, the whole location game can change drastically. The truth is that with apps like foursquare and Gowalla updating your current location in the background, the possibilities are truly endless. In fact, the scenarios I picture with this ability might actually justify the hype surrounding location-based services.
Imagine walking by a store and your iPhone updates your location, which then prompts that store to send you a special offer if you check in. Imagine getting push notifications from your phone when your friend walks into the mall you are visiting. Yes, this could have been done before but only if that friend remembered to open foursquare and check in, which more often than not, is something foursquare users forget to do.
So now your phone can update the world where you are at any given moment and yes, I know how that sounds and I know what you’re thinking. This is obviously not something most people want posted on Twitter or even on foursquare. In fact, we have all heard the stories of burglars using social media to know when people are not home. This could be their ideal solution.
Implementing automatic location updates would of course require some serious thought as to how it would work. However, while foursquare and Gowalla have not yet jumped on the iOS4 bandwagon, Loopt, another location app, has. They just released their updated iPhone app that is fully supported by iOS4 and takes advantage of the new multitasking abilities.
So, how does it work? They seem to have come up with a great balance between automatic and consistent updates on the one hand and the need for privacy on the other. Basically, when users launch the app and check in to a venue, they are prompted to enable continuous updating as they move. Obviously, another down side of this is battery use, but I guess only time will tell how the new iPhone 4′s battery will hold up in tests.
With tbe new Loopt, users can define the time period for which they want continuos updates enabled, as well as who they allow to see those updates. The current version sends you push notifications when you are in the close vicinity of friends, but as we said earlier, the sky is the limit when it comes to such an app.
This is a relatively new concept, but at the same time, it is a very natural next step in the world of location-based services.
Do you think the new iPhone will impact the whole location world or are automatic location updates a reality we will not be seeing in the near future or ever? Please let us know in the comments.
